Connor Jessup, 22, is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Ben Mason on TNT’s Falling Skies. In 2012, Jessup’s performance in Blackbird earned him a “Rising Star” accolade, and he was later named one of Variety’s “Actors to Watch”. (Getty)

Programming Insider

ON THIS DAY
Detective drama “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer,” starring Stacy Keach, opened on CBS in 1984. Darren McGavin originally played the role of Mike Hammer in a syndicated version of the series from 1957 to 1959…Sci-fi drama “Babylon 5” debuted on TNT in 1994…Critically acclaimed ABC drama “My So-Called Life,”starring Claire Danes, concluded after just one season in 1995…Condoleezza Ricewas appointed to the post of secretary of state in 2005…Celebrity birthdays: Guitarist Eddie Van Halen is 62; Ellen DeGeneres is 59; Singer Anita Baker is also 59; Hockey player Wayne Gretzky is 56;

Did You Know?
Prior to the show’s début, Stacy Keach starred as Mike Hammer in made-for-TV movies “Murder Me, Murder You” and “More Than Murder.”

In time period premiere news was episode two of CBS reality/competition “Hunted” at a respectable 3.6/ 6 in the 8 p.m. hour, which trailed time period leader “Lethal Weapon” on Fox (4.1/ 7) by 12 percent. A second episode of “Hunted” scored an almost identical 3.5/ 6 at 9 p.m., which tied a repeat of “Law & Order: SVU” on NBC for first in the hour. Needless to say, “Lethal Weapon” is a shoo-in for a second season renewal.

Netflix to Revive “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”
Reality makeover series “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” which aired on Bravo from 2003 to 2007 and won an Emmy in 2004, is being revived by Netflix. The digital streamer has ordered eight episodes of the reboot, to begin production in the spring. Returning are “Queer Eye” co-creators David Collins and Michael Williams of Scout Productions, who will executive produce with the company’s Rob Eric. No casting information has been announced.

Per Netflix, “in a time when America stands divided and the future seems uncertain, a team of five brave men will try to bring us closer together with laughter, heart, and just the right amount of moisturizer. The Emmy Award-winning “Queer Eye” is back and ready to Make America Fabulous Again.”

The original “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” starred Ted Allen (now a favorite host on the Food Network), Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia, Jai Rodriguez and Carson Kressley, who is competing this season of “The New Celebrity Apprentice.” On the series, the team — each of whom was an expert in a field like fashion, style or culture — would help a straight man revamp his life.

SERIES RENEWALS AND CANCELLATIONS

ABC Renews “The Middle” for Season Nine
Perennially underrated ABC sitcom “The Middle,” starring Patricia Heaton, Neil Flynn, Charlie McDermott, Eden Sher and Atticus Shaffer, has been greenlit by the network for a ninth season. “‘The Middle’ has been one of the network’s most consistent performers and helped us to launch a whole new night of comedy when it moved to Tuesdays this season,” said ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey. “The Indiana Hecks have found America’s sweet spot with their authentic, acerbic and always loving take on parenting, work, kids, marriage and life.”

Moving into the Tuesday8 p.m. anchor spot this season, “The Middle” is the top-rated show on the evening and provides respectable lead-in support to freshman comedy “American Housewife.”

Freeform Orders More Episodes of “Young & Hungry”
Freeform ordered additional episodes of original comedy series “Young & Hungry,” which follows a wealthy entrepreneur named Josh (Jonathan Sadowski) and the food blogger named Gabi (Emily Osment) he hires to be his new personal chef. The first half of upcoming season five premieres on Freeform on Monday, March 13, at 8:00 p.m. ET. The back half of season five will air at a later date.

NOTES OF INTEREST

TV Legend Mary Tyler Moore Dies at 80
Mary Tyler Moore, who “made it after all” in two classic sitcoms, “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” died in a Connecticut hospital yesterday. Her family said her death was caused by cardiopulmonary arrest after she had contracted pneumonia.

“Today, beloved icon, Mary Tyler Moore, passed away at the age of 80 in the company of friends and her loving husband of over 33 years, Dr. S. Robert Levine,”said her longtime representative Mara Buxbaum. “A groundbreaking actress, producer, and passionate advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Mary will be remembered as a fearless visionary who turned the world on with her smile.”

Born Dec. 29, 1936 in Brooklyn Heights, New York, Moore decided at age 17 that she wanted to be a dancer. Her television career began with her first job as “Happy Hotpoint,” a tiny elf dancing on Hotpoint appliances in TV commercials during the 1950s family sitcom “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” After auditioning for the role of the older daughter on Danny Thomas’ long-running TV show, and being turned down, Mary landed her first regularly scheduled role as a mysterious and glamorous telephone receptionist on drama “Richard Diamond,” Private Eye. But only Mary’s voice was heard and her legs appeared on camera.

In 1961, Carl Reiner cast Moore in “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” which resulted in the first two of her six Emmy awards. Four years after “The Dick Van Dyke Show” ended in 1970 came her self-titled sitcom in 1970, which, not to confuse viewers who remembered her as Van Dyke’s wife, featured Mary as a single 30-year old career woman. In its seven seasons on CBS, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” won 29 Emmys, a total that has only been surpassed by “Saturday Night Live,” “Frasier” and, most recently, “Game of Thrones.”

After the show, Moore continued her acting career and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of a mother grieving the loss of her son in 1980’s “Ordinary People.” Several attempts at another long-term television series, including variety series “Mary,” sitcoms “Mary” and “Annie McGuire,” and drama “New York News” all ended after one season.

Moore’s additional film roles included “Thoroughly Modern Millie” with Julie Andrews, “Change of Habit” with Elvis Presley, “Just Don’t Stand There” with Robert Wagner, and “Flirting With Disaster” in 1996.

Moore and her husband at the time Grant Tinker founded MTM Enterprises in 1969, which produced a string of TV series including “The Bob Newhart Show,” “WKRP in Cincinnati,” “The White Shadow,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Hill Street Blues,” and “Mary Tyler Moore Show” spin-offs “Rhoda,” “Phyllis” and “Lou Grant.”

Over the course of her illustrious career, Moore also won a Tony award, three Golden Globes and a SAG lifetime achievement award, and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” was the recipient of a Peabody. She most recently appeared in an episode of TV Land’s “Hot in Cleveland” alongside her “Mary Tyler Moore co-stars Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Georgia Engel and Betty White.

“Mary Tyler Moore was a once-in-a-generation talent,” CBS chairman Leslie Moonves said in a statement. “She will be long remembered as a gifted actress, television pioneer and a role model to so many. CBS has lost one of the very best to ever grace our airwaves and our industry has lost a true legend and friend.”

Rest in Peace, Mary. And thank you for all the wonderful memories.

PBS Honors Mary Tyler Moore with Rebroadcast of Celebratory Documentary
To honor Mary Tyler Moore, PBS stations will rebroadcast special “Mary Tyler Moore: A Celebration.” The documentary, which first aired in 2015, commemorates the influential TV icon and her 50-plus-year career. Featured are interviews with Dick Van Dyke, Betty White, Valerie Harper and many others who recall Moore’s career highlights and underscore the importance of her television characters in shaping today’s society. The film was produced by Steve Boettcher and Mike Trinklein, of Pioneers of Television, who are available for interviews.

getTV Remembers Mary Tyler Moore
Nostalgia-themed getTV will celebrate the life and legacy of Mary Tyler Moore with broadcasts of her appearance on the 1969 special “Dick Van Dyke and the Other Woman” and her early guest spot in a 1960 episode of crime drama “Johnny Staccato,” airing Monday, Jan. 30 at 11 p.m. ET. Mary reunited with her former TV husband in a night of laughs and music featuring a salute to the American woman.

A + E Networks Content Picked Up Across Canada
A+E Networks has inked multiple program sales agreements across a variety of genres to top broadcasters in Canada. From the scripted catalogue, Corus’ Historia will premiere “Roots” in French-speaking Canada while in English Canada, History premiered “Six” on January 18 and snapped up “Knightfall,” as well as the unscripted series, “Donnie Loves Jennie,” slated for Slice, and “Psychic Kids” for OWN and Crime + Investigation.

“Roots” has been acquired by the Crave streaming service in English-speaking Canada. In addition, “And Then There Were None” and “UnREAL” have been picked up by SRC in French-speaking Canada. Unscripted sales include “Paranormal State,” “Possessed,” “Homegrown Makeover” and “Doomsday: 10 Ways the World Will End” to Blue Ant.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

The fourth — and final — season of Starz drama “Black Sails” premieres this Sunday, January 29th at 9 PM ET. Ten final episodes will air. The logline: The fourth season opens with hundreds of British soldiers dead in a forest… the Royal Navy sails back to England in retreat… the West Indies are now a war zone, and the shores of New Providence Island have never been bloodier. With the help of Eleanor Guthrie, Woodes Rogers transforms Nassau into a fortress without walls, as Captain Flint amasses a fleet of unprecedented strength, hoping to strike the final blow against civilization and reshape the world forever. Meanwhile, from within the island… an insurgency builds, fueled by the legend of its exiled leader, whose name keeps grown men awake at night… the one they call “Long John Silver.”

Upcoming Science Channel series “Hacking the Wild,” featuring “Digital Survivalist” Andy Quitmeyer going deep into some of the most remote parts of the world armed with nothing but everyday technology and science to survive the wilderness, will premiere on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 10 p.m. ET.. Each of the six, hour-long episodes follow Quitmeyer as he hacks his way back to civilization using a hybrid of time-tested outdoor survival skills and a backpack’s worth of wires, laptops and tracking devices.

“13 Reasons Why,” a new series from Netflix adapted from the best-selling books by Jay Asher, will be available for streaming on Friday, March 31. It follows teenager Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) as he returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker (newcomer Katherine Langford) —his classmate and crush—who tragically committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Will Clay be one of them? If he listens, he’ll find out how he made the list.

ON THE AIR TONIGHT

“Riverdale,” based on the iconic comic book characters, debuts on The CW out of relocated “Supernatural.”. ABC’s TGIT line-up – “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal”and “How to Get Away with Murder” – returns in all originals. Freshman medical drama “Pure Genius” concludes on CBS. For the schedule listings for Thursday, Jan. 26, click here

PI POLLS

1. Who is your favorite character in the “Archie” comic book franchise? Click here
2. What is your favorite daytime talk show? Click here
3. . Are you planning to watch the upcoming revival of “Twin Peaks” on Showtime? Click here

The daily trivia question is below “You Might Like.”

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TRIVIA CHALLENGE
Remembering Mary Tyler Moore

Which one of the following five statements about “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” is not true?

a) Jack Cassidy was originally offered the role of Ted Baxter.
b) Betty White as Sue Ann Nivens was originally just a one-episode guest spot.
c) Gavin MacLeod first auditioned for the role of Lou Grant.
d) Georgia Engel was the only series regular not to win an Emmy award on the show.
e) The sitcom finished three of its seven seasons ranked in the Top 10.
f) They are all true.

The answer to yesterday’s question…

If the girls from season one of “The Facts of Life” got together with the Ingalls girls on season two of “Little House on the Prairie,” how many girls in total would there be?